Method and machine for making sanitary napkins



Nov. 11, 1941. Q FQURNESS ET AL 2 262,275

METHOD AND MACHINE FOR MAKING SANITARY NAPKINS" Filed April 20, 1939 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q 4 v c. A. FouRNEss' ETAL 2,252,275

METHOD AND MACHINE FOR MAKING SANITARY NAPKINS 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 20, 1939 I I I mass 1941- c. A. FOURNESS ET AL 2,262,275

METHOD AND MACHINE FOR MAKING SANITARY NAPKINS Filed April 20, 1939 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Nov. 11, 1941.

c. A. FOURNESS- ET AL METHOD AND MACHINE FOR MAKING SANITARY NAPKINS Filed April 20, 1939 v 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Nov. 11, 1941. A, FQURN S ETAL 2,262,275

METHOD AND MACHINE FOR MAKING'SANITARY NAPKINS Filed April 20, 1939 s sheets-sheet a 1941- c. A. FOURNESS ETAL 2,252,275

METHOD AND MACHINE FOR MAKING SANITARY NAPKINS Filed April 20, 1939 a Sheets-Sheet 7 Nov. 11, 1941 c. A. FOURNESS ET AL 2,252,275

METHOD AND MACHINE FOR MAKING SANITARY NAPKINS Filed April 20, 1939 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Patented Nov. 11, 1941 METHOD AND MACHINE FOR MAKING SANITARY NAPKINS Charles A. Fourn Appleton, Greiner, Menasha, Wis., tional Ccllucotton Products Company,

and Charles J; assignors to Interna- Chicago,

111., a corporation of Delaware Application April 20, 1939, sci-m No. 268,950 9 Claims. (01. 210-41) This invention relates to a method and machine -ior making sanitary napkins and it has for its principal objects an improvement in the method of making sanitary napkins which will facilitate the production of relatively compleir, multi-part napkin structures; to provide mechanism by which such relatively complex sani- Other objects and advantages of the invention Figure 13 is a diagrammatic perspective illustrating the general arrangement and operation of the improved method and apparatus.

Referring now to the drawings, the method and apparatus herein disclosed has been designed particularly for the production of sanitary napkins such as illustrated in Figures 11 and 12 of the drawings. As therein shown, the napkins comprise a wrapper l of gauze or other material suitable for the purpose, and an absorbent pad it which is enclosed in the gauze, the latter being folded longitudinally around the pad.

The pad body 16 comprises an intermediate absorbent element II which is formed from a web of absorbent creped tissue or other suitable material folded upon itself to form a folded two-ply central body. A so-called' equalizer or other strip I8 is embraced between the folds of the central body 11, the said strip l8 being in will be understood by reference to the following go this case of the nature of materialdisclosed in specification and accompanying drawings (8 sheets) wherein there are illustrated the improved method and machine.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation;

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the left-hand end of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan section on the line 3-4 of Figure 1 on a somewhat enlarged scale;

Figure 4 is a vertical section on the line H of Figure 3;

a Figure 5 is a plan section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4; Figure 6 is a section on the line 6-5 of Figure 1 but on an enlarged scale;

Figure 'l is a section on the ure 1; v

Figure 8 is a section on the line 3-8 of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is an end view corresponding in part to a portion of Figure 2 but showing a changed position;

Figure 10 is a perspective illustrating the operation of certain folding and direction-changin devices forming a part of the improved mechanism;

Figure 11 is a perspective illustrating the constructicn of a sanitary napkin as produced by the improved machine, a portion of the napkin being opened up so as to illustrate more clearly the construction;

Figure'12 is an exploded perspective of the absorbent pad portion of the sanitary napkin illustrating the end portion of the pad opposite to that shown in Figure 4; and

layers, substantially as disclosed 'strips' 21 and 18, respectively. The pad the patent to Heitmeyer No. 1,863,333. On top of the folded central body there is positioned a water-proof or baiiie strip 19, the same being preferably formed of one or two plies of creped tissue paper suitably treated to make it waterrepellent.

The pad structure comprising the central body II, the intermediate strip 18 and the superposed strip is, is enclosed between upper and lower absorbent layers or body parts 20 and 2!, respectively, which have end portions projecting beyond the respective ends of said central bodystructure as shown in Figures 11 and 12. The extended end portions of the top and bottom layers are preferably subjected to compression in an area as indicated at together the plies of material contained in said in Reissue Patent No. 21,076, dated May 9, 1939.

The outer surfaces of the layers 20 and 2| have applied to them thin webs 23 and 21 of loose, fluify cotton. The side edges of the absorbent pad body are covered first by water-proof edge strips 25 and 26 and the cotton covered body is thus covered with cotton, except, of course, the extended end portions and it will be observed that the cotton-edged strips 21 and 28 are somewhat wider than the water-proof edge strips 25 and 16, so that marginal portions of said cottonedged strips come into direct contact with the cotton plies 23 and 24 on the top and bottom of the pad and thereby are adhesively attached to the pad body so as to be capable of holding the water-proof edge strips in place.

22 for, in eflfect, welding Because of the presence of the baiile element l9 near one face of the pad, it is advisable that a suitable marking be provided to indicate which side of the pad should be worn away from the body. For this purpose a margin of the gauze which is folded over the side of the pad which should be worn away from the body may be equipped with any suitable marking imprinted or otherwise applied thereto, but in this instance a contrastingly colored thread 29 is applied to the proper side of the pad body. As indicated in Figure 1, such a thread is, in this case, initially positioned on the first folded marginal side portion of the wrapper, so that when such wrapper portion is folded over the pad body, the thread will be disposed on the face of the pad within the wrapper and approximately mid-way of the width of the pad. Because of the open character of the usual gauze wrapper employed for sanitary napkin purposes, such a colored thread will be readily visible through the two overlying folds of the wrapper.

The general arrangement of the mechanism and the method of producing the described napkin structure is illustrated in Figure 13. As shown in said Figure 13, a continuous web 2la of creped tissue paper is advanced in the direction indicated by the arrow 30, said web being drawn from a supply roll suitably mounted at one end of the machine. The bottom pad member 2i of the finished sanitary napkin originates in the web Zia. The top pad member 20 originates in a continuous web 20a of pad material, the same being drawn from a suitably mounted supply roll indicated at 20b. The folded intermediate pad body I! originates in a wider web ila of pad material. the same being drawn from a supply roll llb .which is mounted with its axis extending transversely of the axes of the supply rolls from which the webs 20a and 2h: come. The web Ila. is fed through suitable guiding devices and over a folding device located in the position indicated at 3| which folds the web I la upon itself and also cooperates with a guiding roller 32 for changing the direction of, travel of ,the web into. parallelism with the webs 20a and Ma. The special insert strip l3 originates in a web I8a of material which comes from a supply roll l3b, arranged with its axis parallel to that of the supply roll Nb of foldable, central body forming material. As indicated in Figure 13, the

" web l8a is fed into a position adjacent one-half the width of the web Ha and over the folding mechanism indicated at 3i so that-when the-web Ila is folded upon itself, the web l3a is embraced betweenthe folds of theweb "a. The folded web Ila with its enclosed strip l8a is guided into position between the webs 20a and Zia between continuously driven feed rollers 33 and 34, which feed the multi-ply web smoothly and continuously to reciprocating'fee'd mechanism which advances the web. step by step to facilitate the cutting of the multi-ply web into individual pad elements. The smooth feeding action of the rolls 33 and 34 enables us to draw the various webs from the various supply rolls without breaking the webs, and said rolls serve, incidentally to press the relatively superposed parts together to the required degree.

The baille element i9 originates in a web lid and guiding the same into superposed relation' to the folded web I'Ia. Hence, said web i9a travels with the folded web i'la between the webs 20a and Zia and the feeding rollers 33 and 34.

The top and bottom cotton layers 23 and 24, respectively, of the pad originate in webs 23a and 24a, respectively of suitable cotton material supplied in rolls 23b and 24b, such rolls being preferably mounted with their axes parallel to the supply rolls of the wadding webs 20a and 2m.

It will be understood that the webs i'la, 20a and 2 la will each comprise a multiplicityofsuperposed layers of creped tissue paper or other suitable absorbent material. For example, each of the webs Ila, 20a and Zia may be formed of ten plies of creped tissue paper, so that the composite web which issues from between the feeding rollers 33.and 34 will embody, in the central portion including the folded web Ila, forty plies of creped tissue paper. In addition, the said composite web embodies the plies of material which form the baiile strip [9a and the cotton layers 23a and 24a.

The composite web designated 35 in its entirety issues continuously from between the feed rollers 33 and 34 but mechanism of the type shown in Thompson Patent No. 1,869,177 is employed for advancing the forward end portion of said composite web step by step and for cutting end portions of predetermined width from the web so as to form' individual or separate pad bodies 36 which embody the absorbent pad construction shown in Figures 11 and 12, except only the water-proofed and cotton-edged strips.

The water-proofed and cotton-edged strips may be applied by means generally similar to that shown in the patent to Foumess and Greiner, No. 2,052,529, August 25, 1936. As indicated in Figure 13, the arrangement here employed comprises a pair of guide rolls Bland 38 around and over which the wrapper web 39 of gauze or which comes from a supply roll l9b which is arranged with its axis parallel to that of the supply rolls Nb and I817. Said web I30 is fed transversely of the direction of travel of the webs 30a like material is directed from a suitably mounted wrapper supply roll 40. The guide rolls 3'! and 38 are so arranged that a suitable length of the gauze will be guided through an upwardly inclined path of travel and then in a substantially horizontal direction. The cotton-edged strips 21 and 28 originate in continuous webs or ribbons of cotton, designated 21a and 28a, which come from suitably mounted .supply rolls 21b and 28b. Similarly, the water-proofed edged strips 25 and 26 originate in continuous ribbons or webs of water-proofed material designated 25a and 25a, which come from suitably mounted supply rolls 25b and 26b of said material.

The water-proofed and cushion edged strips are directed into relatively superposed relation, the same being fed between continuously driven feeding rollers 4| and 42 and thence under a breaker roll 43. The breaker roll operates in conjunction with the travelling web of gauze 39 to periodically tear or break predetermined lengths of the superposed water-proofed and cushion edged strips from the continuous webs' proofed and cushion edged assemblies. Continued forward movement of the gauze wrapper and absorbent pad and edge covering elements carries the same through suitable folding devices for folding the marginal portions of the wrapper upwardly and over the top of the absorbent pad structure, thereby incidentally folding said edge assemblies around the respective edges of the pads. The colored marking thread 23' may be fed into position on one margin of the wrapper before it is folded, the same being supplied from a suitably mounted spool 29a of such thread.

From the foregoing explanation, it will appear that absorbent pad bodies are enclosed in the folded gauze wrapper at spaced intervals. The wrapper length intermediate adjacent pad bodies is next severed so as to produce relatively independent sanitary napkins and. the extending wrapper ends or tabs are next folded over the pad bodies so as to prepare the napkin for packaging. Mechanism for severing the gauze wrapper intermediate the pad bodies and for folding the tabs may be of any known type, for example, that shown in the patent to Thompson No. 2,134,- 459, issued October 25, 1938.

p The apparatus for making sanitary napkins of the character and by the method above described comprises a table or support 50 suitably supported by such frame elements as may be found desirable and on which the composite web structure 35 is assembled, as shown in Figure 1. The lower body-forming web 2 la is directed from a suitably mounted supply roll to thte table 50 under a guiding roller I and between suitably positioned side guides 52, 52.

The wide, foldable web I'Ia is fedto the apparatus from a supply roll IIb mounted above the table 59 and on an axis which extends substantially parallelto the direction of feed of the webs 2Ia. The web I'la travels downwardly from the supply roll IIb as indicated in Figures 2 and 6 and around a curved guiding member 53 and between side guides 54, 54 which support the curved member 53. The web I'Ia extends around and under the curved member 53 and thence more or less horizontally inwardly in a direction transversely of the length of the web 2Ia over a horizontally extending guide 55. A tension device 55 comprising a slightly weighted member pivoted as indicated at 51 in the side guides 54 serves to provide a slight tension on the web I'Ia at a point in advance of a folding device 58, over which the web is drawn.

The folding device 55 comprises a generally angular member arranged at a downward angle as best shown in Figures 4, 6 and 10, the arrangement being such that the web I'Ia will be trilongitudinally folded upon itself approximately mid-way of its width as an incident to the movement of the web downwardly over said folding device and under a suitably mounted guiding roll 59. The guiding roll 59 is journalled in suitable brackets carried by the frame-work of the machine and it is preferably driven at a surface speed which is faster, preferably about 25 per cent faster, than the normal speed of the folded web Ila coming from the folding device. For driving the roller 59 a shaft is suitably extended to receive a sprocket wheel 50 which is engaged by a driven chain BI for the purpose indicated. The chain M is driven by connections which will presently be described to a source of power such for pulling the webs Ho and Ito over the folding tion of the folded web Ila and enclosed web- Ito between said roll 59 and the rolls 33-44. This function of the. roll 59 is of substantial importance for the reason that the elasticities of the webs Ila and I8a are quite different, wherefore,

if said webs are passed between rolls 33-35 under tension, they will, upon release of such tension, resume their normal lengths. Such release would normally occur'when the assembled wadding structure is cut into individual pads. Hence, the widths of the various elements of the pad may become irregular incident to the release of any existing tension in the webs. By avoiding tensioning of the parts mentioned, uniformity of the width of the pad parts is more readily obtainable.

The supply roii Nb of the IIa is a relatively heavy roll and it would be somewhat difficult or cumbersome to elevate such a roll to the height indicated in Figure 1. To

facilitate mounting of the roll and also eliminate or reduce theidle time of the machine incident to the exhaustion of one roll and mounting of a new roll, a special arrangement is provided The special mounting arrangement is best shown in Figures 1, 2 and 9 of the drawings, to which reference is now made.

The mounting means comprises a supporting arm 53 pivotally mounted adjacent its lower end as indicated at 54 on a frame part or bracket provided for that purpose. The arm 63 nected by means of a cable '55 to a counter-balancing weight 58 which normally tends to swing the arm 53 to its normal vertical position as shown in full lines in Figures 1 and 2, and in broken lines in Figure 9. A disengageable looking pin 51 is provided for locking the arm 53 in its normal vertical position. 0n the free end of the arm. 63 there is pivotally mounted as indicated at 68 a cross-arm 68 which is provided at each of its ends with a hub or boss in which is rotatably mounted a suitable spool or core III.

on which the roll Ilb of wadding may be placed. Releasable locking means indicated at II isprovided for interlocking-the cross arm 69 and the arm 63 so as to maintain the cross arm 69 in fixed position relative to the arm 63.

When the machine is first placed in operation, a roll of wadding is positioned on the uppermost spindle or core III and the wadding web Ila threaded downwardly around the guide 53 and over the folding device 58 as previously explained. when the supply roll is reduced in diameter sufficiently to permit the arm 69 to be swung through an arc of without interferonce from the guide 53 or other machine parts, the arm is rotated through said are and again locked in fixed position relative to the arm 83. Such position of the supply roll and web is indicated in broken lines in Figures 2 and 9. To facilitate mounting of another supply roll of wide wadding on the then uppermost spindle", the arm 63 is released and permitted to swing outwardly and downwardly to the position shown in full lines in Figure 9, wherein the said uppermost spindle is substantially lowered in height and moved outwardly to a more accessible position. The new wadding roll I'Ib may then be placed on the spindle whereupon the arm 53 is again returned to its normal vertical position. The new roll otwadding is then available to replace the first 'roll promptly upon exhaustion of, the latter. The counter-balancing weight 56 facilitates the movement of the roll-supporting as:

device and serves to relieve of tension that porwide foldable web is consembly by reducing the free weight thereof so that relatively little force is required to raise the new Wadding roll to its elevated position.

Supply rolls l8b of the equalizer or insert strip I8a are mounted on spindles carried by the free ends of an arm 12 which is pivoted interme-' diate its ends as indicated at 13 (see Figure 2) on a frame part or bracket provided for that purpose. The said arm 12 is adapted to be rocked through an arc of 130 so that when the first mounted supply roll nears exhaustion, the arm may be rotated 180 so as to position the nearly used up roll as indicated inbroken lines in Figure 2 and to present an empty spindle on which to mount a new supply roll l8b. As soon as the first roll is exhausted, the web may be drawn from the new supply roll to continue the supply of the web I80. without interrupting the operation of the machine. Suitable locking means for holding the arm 12 in fixed position may be provided as explained above in connection with the arms 89 and H.

.The web I8a is threaded upwardly over a depending guide member 55a integrally connected by a smoothly rounded or arcuate portion 55b with the guide table 55. The side guides 54 above referred to in connection with the guiding of the web Ila are extended as indicated to constitute side guides for the depending and arcuate table portions 55a and 55b (see Figure 6). A weighted tension device I4 is associated with the guide element 55a for properly tensioning. the web Na in its passage over the guide 55 and the folding device 58.

As clearly indicated 'in Figures 1 and 4, the web I8a isguided to a position beneath approximately one-half the Width of thefoldable web I'Ia, so that as an incident to the folding of the web [1a and the changing of the direction of travel of the'folded web "a and of the web l8a, the latter will be interposed between the two folds of the web lid.

The bafiie strip supply roll I9b is mounted in parallel relation to the supply roll I81) and preferably through the agency of an arm 15, similar to the arms 89 and I2 and for the same purpose. The bailie web l9a extends upwardly from the supply roll I9b over a curved guiding surface 18 of a guiding trough l1 and thence downwardly over an angularly arranged bar 18 which serves to change the direction of travel of the baffle strip I9a into parallelism with the folded wadding strip 11a. The baffle strip l9a, upon leaving ,the direction-changing bar '18, is guided under a suitable arcuate-surfaced guiding device 19 which is supported at its opposite ends by side plates 88, 88.

Wadding rolls 28b for supplying web 28a. are supported on spindles carried by the free ends of an arm 8| pivoted intermediate its ends as indicated at 82 on a suitable bracketor frame part provided for that purpose, the said arms 8| being rotatable so as to present an empty spindle in a position relatively clear of other parts ofthe machine to facilitate mounting of a new supply roll substantially as explained in connection with the supporting and mounting of the supply rolls [1b, I81) and [9b. It will also be understood that supply rolls for the web 21a may also be mounted by similar means to facilitate mounting of such rolls without interfering with the continued operation of the machine.

The web 28a moves downwardly from the supply rolls 2% over a curved guiding member" 83 suitably mounted between the side plates 88 and thence between the feed rolls 33 and 34.

The supply rolls 23b of the top cotton web 23a are normallysupported through the agency of a suitable core or shaft 84 on the free ends of an integrally connected pair of arms such as indicated at 85 (see Figures 3 and 4), which are pivotally mounted on a shaft 88. The shaft 86 is in turn supported by a suitable bracket structure as indicated and the free ends of the arms are provided with recessed seats for receiving the roll core or shaft so as to hold the shaft in position accurately for properly feeding the web 230. into superposed relation to the other parts of the padforming structure.

The cotton web 23a, because of its low tensile' strength, will not stand hard pulling to unroll it from the supply roll 23b. Accordingly, the supply roll 23b is caused to rest on a feed roller 81 which is suitably joumalle'd in the frame-work as shown and driven by means of connections which will presently be explained.

The web 23a is fed over a guiding device 88 and under a pair of fingers 89 and thence over the feed roller 33. The fingers 89 are pivotally mounted on a suitably shaped shaft or rod 99 which is mounted at its ends as indicated at 9| in supporting blocks or strips 92 of electrical insulation material. The members 88 and 89 are both formed of metal of suitable electrical properties to constitute contact members which are so connected in an electrical circuit that in the event either of the fingers 89 is permitted to contact the guide 88, an electrical circuit will be completed which will serve to stop the operation of the machine. Normally, the cotton web 23a serves'to maintain said fingers and guide 88 out of contact with each other. Hence, it will appear that the fingers 89 and guide 88 constitute, in addition to web-guiding means, a detecting device for preventing operation of the machine in the event that the cotton web 23a should be broken and fail to pass over the guide 88. The fingers 89 are preferably located so as to ride over the respective margins of the web 230. so that in the event that tearing starts at either side of the web it will be promptly detected and the machine stopped, often before the tear is extended entirely across the web. Any suitable arrangement may beemployed for maintaining the position of the fingers on the shaft, for example, a pin and slot connection, as shown in Figure 3.

The bearings-for supporting the shaft 84 of the supply roll 23 may be of any suitable character and they are preferably such that they will offer very slight resistance to turning of the supply roll so as to permit the web to be easily drawn therefrom. If desired, the shaft 84 may be supported in suitable roller or ball bearings which may be positioned in the recessed ends of the supporting arms 85. A spring 93 stretched between a portion of the supporting bracket or frame-work and an ear or lug, or other part of the arms 85, serves to counter-balance at least a part of the weight of the supply roll23b, so that the roll does not bear heavily on the feed roll 81. By this arrangement distortion of the roll 23b is avoided so as to insure continual freedom of the availability of the cotton web 23a from its supply roll. Whenthe supply roll 23b nears exhaustion. it may be removed with its shaft from the ends of the arm 85 and positioned on inclined surfaces 94 of brackets 95 which are attached to the frame structure of the machine. When the nearly exhausted supply roll is supported on the brackets 94, the angular arrangement of the supporting surfaces 94 causes the roll to bear against the feed roll 81 so that the feeding of the web 23a continues until the supply roli is-exhausted. In the meantime, the arms 85 may be elevated to a predetermined position in which they may be locked by engaging a latching lever 98 with a cross-rod 91. A new supply roll 23 may then be mounted on the arms so as to be in readiness to continue the supply of the web 23a promptly upon exhaustion of the preceding roll.

The bottom supply roll 24b of cotton webbing 24a is supported in a manner similar to the top supply roll 23b on arms such as indicated at 98 and on a driven feeding roller 99. The bottom cotton web 24a passes around a guide roller I which is also preferably driven so as to avoid the application of any resistance to the free movement of the web. 24a. From the guide roller I00.

the web 2411 passes upwardly over a curved guiding plate IOI which cooperates with electrically insulated feelers, or fingers, I02, which cooperate with the pulleys I23 and I25, there is provided an idler roller I29 carried on the free end of an arm I30 which is pivotally mounted at its other end on the frame work of the machine.

Rotation of the driven sprocket I28 is transmitted by a chain I3I to the sprocket I08 on the shaft of the lower feed roller 34. The said chain with the guide IM to stop the apparatus in the event that the web 24a becomes broken. The fingers I02 and guide IOI 'may be similar in arrangement to the fingers 89 and guide 88, and serve the same purpose in respect of the cotton web 24a that said fingers 89 and guide 88 serve in respect of the upper web 23a. From the curved guiding member IOI', the web 240 passes to'the feed roller 34 to complete the assembly of elements forming the composite web 35 from which the pad units are cut. I

The feeding rollers 33 and 34 are geared together as shown in Figures 3, '1 and 8, so that they rotate at the same surface'speed to thereby insure effective feeding of the composite web 35. The lower roll 34 is carried by a shaft I03 journalled in suitable brackets'I04, I04, and said shaft I03 has keyed to it a gear I05 and a pair of sprockets I08 and I01.

The upper roll 33 is carried by a shaft I08 which is rotatably journalled in suitable bearings provided in arms I09 which are pivotally mounted at their opposite ends on a shaft IIO which is supported by suitable bearings III. Springs such as indicated at II2, stretched between extensions of the arms I09 and suitable brackets I I3, serve to yieldingly pull the upper roller 33 toward the lower roller 34 to thereby press together the composite parts of the web 35. The shaft I08 of the roller 33 is provided with a gear I I4 which meshes with the gear I85 of the lower roller, so that both rollers will rotate in unison in opposite directions, appropriate. for feeding the'material as indicated. The gears I05 and H4 are encased in a suitable housing H5.

The means for driving the various parts of the mechanism thus far described constitute the electric motor 82 which is connected to 'a suitable variable speed-controlling device II8 which is connected by means of sprockets and a chain II1-to drive a suitably journalled shaft H8. The shaft H8 is also connected by suitable sprockets and a chain '9 to another shaft I20 which is in turn connected by bevelled gearing I2I to a shaft 7 I22. The shaft I22 is provided with a pulley I23 which receives a V-belt member I24 which also passes around a variable diameter pulley I25 which is connected through a suitable shaft to a sprocket I28. The variable diameter pulley I25 is of well-known construction and controlled by an adjusting wheel I21 and locking device I28, so that the speed at which the sprocket I28 is rotated may be varied with the limits by adjusting the effective diameter of the pulley I25. To maintain the belt I24 in driving engagement I3I also engages an idler or guiding sprocket I32 and a sprocket I33 which is rigidly connected to another sprocket I34 (see Figures 1 and 3). Incident to the driving engagement of the chain I3I with the sprocket I33, ,the sprocket I34 is also driven, and it serves to drive a chain I35 which engages a sprocket I38 carried by the shaft of the upper cotton web feeding roller 81.

A chain I31 extends around the sprocket I01 which is driven incident to its connection with the sprocket I08 and around a sprocket I38, a sprocket I39 carried by the shaft of the feed roller 99 for the bottom cotton web supply roll 24b, and around an idler or guide sprocket I40. The chain I31 thus serves to effect rotation of the said feed roller 99 and to the sprocket I38, which is rigidly connected to another sprocket MI. The sprocket I4I receives the chain 8I which also engages the sprocket connected to the shaft of the guiding roller 59. I

The relationship of the various cooperating sprockets is such that the various driven rolls will be driven at the proper speed to insure smoothness of operation of the machine and it will be understood that certain of the sprockets are mounted for rotation through the agency of such shafts, brackets, and frame'parts as may be required for the purpose.

The composite web 35 is formed and issues continuously from between the feed rollers 33 and 34. For cutting the forward end portions of the composite web35 from the web to form the separate pads 38, reciprocating punch and die mechanism of the character disclosed in said Thompson Patent No. 1,869,177 may b employed. Such mechanism requires the intermittent stopping of the feed of the composite web 35 while the punching and cutting operations are sential elements of said reciprocating feed mechanism are herein shown as comprising a cam I45 on the countershaft H80, which is suitably driven from the shaft II8, said cam being suitably connected to a rock lever I46 which, at its upper end, aotuates the horizontally reciprocating feed mechanism. Another cam I41 on said countershaft I I8a actuates a vertically slidably mounted member I43 which controls vertical movement of the feed mechanism to free it from the wadding upon rearward movement of the feed mechanism.

Because of the step by step feeding of the forward portion of the composite web 35 while maintaining a continuous delivery of such composite wadding from between the rolls 33 and 34, the

wadding iscaused to arch itself intermediate the arches itself and thereby avoids any tendency to disturb the position of the forward end portion of the composite strip during the cutting operation. The subsequent forward movement of the reciprocating feed device is so synchronized and related to the length of composite wadding delivered by the feed rolls 33 and 34 that the arched portion of 'the wadding will be pulled out straight, or substantially so, to permit the step by step delivery of the required length of wadding.

Vertically reciprocating cutting mechanism for cutting the composite web 35to form independent pad elements comprises an upper knife I49 and a lower cutting element I50 over which the composite wad passes. The independent pad units are deposited on a suitable table surface from which they are mechanically propelled by suitable mechanism such as typified by said Thompson patent or said Fourness, et al., patent, for delivering the pads to the horizontally extending portion of the wrapper on which the edge embracing water-proof and cotton strips have theretofore been deposited in proper position to register with the pad body when delivered to the gauze wrapper.

The mechanism for supplying the edge-wrapping water-proof strips and cotton strips is illustrated only somewhat generally in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, since the details of such mechanism are substantially the same as details of the cotton edge applying mechanism, which is fully disclosed in said Fourness, et al., patent.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, supply rolls 21-h and 28-4) of cotton-edged-stripping are mounted on pivoted arms such as indicated at Iii. Supply rolls 25b and 26b are similarly mounted on pivoted arms such as indicated at I52. The water-proof and cotton strips are fed from their respective supply rolls as an incident to their joint passage between the continuously driven feed rolls H and 42 (Figure 13) which correspond respectively to the feed rolls 52 and I5! of the structure shown in said Fourness, et al., Pat,- ent No. 2,052,529. The superposed edge strips are separated into independent lengths of suchstrips by the action of the breaker roll 43 which corresponds'to the breaker roll ll of said Fourness, et al., patent, and is operated by similar mechanism.

In the structure as described the arrange ment of the supply rolls I'Ib, I8!) and I911 on axes extending parallel to the ultimate direction of travel of the strips of webbing supplied by,

said rolls constitutes an important improvement in apparatus of the character indicated for the reason that it avoids crowding of supply rolls above the path of travel of the lowermost web li and in that the mounting of new supply rolls from time to time is greatly facilitated.

The guiding of the various webs of material over rounded surfaces and between side guides as shown and described provides practical means by which to effect assembly of the various pad-forming elements accurately in the desired centered relationship. Also, the described arrangement for permitting the mounting of a new supply roll before exhaustion of a preceding roll is of considerable importance in that it permits uninterrupted operation of the machine. The electrical stop mechanism for preventing continued operation of the machine in the event of interruption or breakage in the feed of the cotton webs is a highly desirable provision in that the webs but such provision does not appear to bev needed.

The described structure and arrangement is, of course, subject to considerable variation and to changes without departing from the principles of arrangement and construction herein shown and without substantial departure in respect of the method of making the napkins as herein disclosed. Accordingly, the following claims are intended to be understood as directed to the described construction as well as to equivalent arrangements which embody the method and principles of operation above described.

We claim:

1. The method of making an absorbent pad for a sanitary napkin comprising a plurality of relatively superposed layers or sections of material, which method comprises the steps of feeding webs of material for forming certain of said layers along substantially parallel courses into relatively superposed relation and feeding another web to form another of said layers along a course extending transversely to said substantially parallel courses and then changing the travel of said other web to a course also paralleling said parallel courses, and, as an incident to the changing of said course of travel, folding said other web upon itself to reduce its width.

2. The method of makingan absorbent pad for a sanitary napkin comprising outer sections and a folded intermediate section, which method comprises the steps of feeding into superposed relation from suitably mounted supply rolls, webs of material for forming said outer sections, feeding a wide web of material for forming said folded intermediate section, folding said wide web longitudinally and guiding such folded section into position intermediate said outer-section-forming webs.

3. The method of making an absorbent pad for a sanitary napkin comprising outer sections and a'folded intermediate section, which method comprises the steps of feeding into superposed relation from suitably moimted supply rolls, webs of material for forming said outer sections, feeding in a direction extending transversely of the direction of travel of said outer-section-forming webs, a wide web of material for forming said folded intermediate section, folding said wide web longitudinally and guiding said folded section into position intermediate said outer-sectionforming webs.

4. The method of making an absorbent pad for a sanitary napkin comprising outer sections and a folded intermediate section having an insert layer between the folds of said folded intermediate section, which method comprises the steps of feeding into superposed relation webs of material for forming said outer sections, feeding a wide web of material adapted to form said folded section in a direction extending transversely of the direction of travel of said outersection-forming webs, feeding a web of said insert section-forming material into position adjacent a predetermined portion of said 'wide web, folding said wide web upon itself to embrace said insert section-forming web, and then guiding said folded section into position intermediate said outer-section-forming webs.

5. in apparatus of the class described, the combination of means for supporting a pair of rolls cotton webs are relatively weak and are to a 'of absorbent webbing in axially parallel relation means for supporting another roll of webbing in transversely extending axial relation to said first- 4 mentioned rolls, means for guiding the webs from said first-mentioned rolls into relatively superposed relation, means for guiding the web from said other roll in a direction extending trans-' versely of the direction of travel of said firstmentioned webs, and means for folding said other web upon itself, means for changing the direction of travel of said transversely directed web into parallel, superposed relation to said first-mentioned webs.

6. The method of making an absorbent pad for a sanitary napkin comprising a plurality of relatively superposed outer sections and a folded intermediate section having an insert layer between the folds of said intermediate section, which method comprises the steps of feeding webs of material for forming said outer sections along substantially parallel courses into relatively superposed relation, feeding a web for forming said folded intermediate section along a course extending transversely to said substantially parallel courses, feeding a web of insert material into longitudinally extending, superposed relation to a portion of said transversely fed web, and then changing the travel of said transversely fed web and said insert web to a course also paralleling said parallel courses, and, as an incident to the changing of said course of travel, folding said transversely fed web upon itself to reduce its width and to enclose said insert web.

'7. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of means for supporting a pair of rolls of absorbent webbing in axially parallel relation, means for supporting another roll of webbing in transversely extending axial relation to said first mentioned rolls, means for guiding.

the webs from said first-mentioned rolls into relatively superposed relation, means for guiding the web from said other roll in a direction extending transversely of the direction of travel of said first mentioned webs, and means for folding said other web upon itself, means for changing the direction of travel of said transversely directed web and guiding the same into longitudinally extending parallelrelation to said parallel, superposed webs and intermediate the same.

8. In apparatus of the class described, continuously driven feeding mechanism adapted to continuously propel wadding delivered thereto, means for guiding a plurality of webs of material into superposed relation and to said feeding mechanism, means for folding one of said webs before delivery of the same to said feeding mechanism, and means acting on said folded web to propel the same over said folding means and to feed the folded web to said feeding mechanism untensioned by the folding operation.

9. In apparatus of the class described, continuously driven feeding mechanism adapted to continuously propel wadding delivered thereto, means for guiding a plurality of webs of material into superposed relation and to said feeding mechanism, means for folding one of said webs before delivery of the same to said feeding meoh anism, and means acting on said folded web to propel the same over said foldingmeans and to feed the folded web to said feeding mechanism untensioned by the folding operation, said lastmentioned means comprising a feeding roll acting on said folded web and driven at a surface speed in excess of the speed of travel of the folded web.

CHARLES A. FOURNESS. CHARLES J. GREINER. 

